Is it more important to be a good person or to perform good acts?

I think it’s more important to be a good person. I think being a good person is more important than performing good acts because anybody can perform a good act, that doesn’t always necessarily mean there’s good intentions behind that action. For example: Im not very big on politics but recently Donald Trump boycotted the Republican debate and instead held a conference where he would would speak and show recognition to veterans. There was a lot of criticism behind this because it was said Trump had made previous statements showing his lack of care or interest for Veterans. So to tie that scenario into ethics, Trump holding this conference is indeed a good act..but that doesn’t mean there’s good intentions behind that act; as it was probably strictly for publicity reasons. If you’re a good person, majority of the time your intentions are good as well.

Do the pleasure and pain of non-human animals matter as much as the pleasure and pain of humans (speciesism)?

Absolutely. There are many species on this planet, humans being just one of the many. So who are we, as humans, to declare superiority? I think this belief that humans are a superior species compared to non-human animals, comes from the fact that we’re so advanced in certain aspects of life. When it comes to technology, medicine and modern day life in general, theres no other species out there living like humans are. While this is true, I think humans tend to forget where we originated from; back to the cavemen era. We weren’t always this advanced in life. Just as us humans see ourselves as the important species, I’m sure there are non-human animals who think the same of their species, how would we know? The only circumstance in which my ethic outlook would change on this topic is when it comes to food. I myself am not a die hard vegetarian but I can go without meat, no problem. Although some people choose to go without ingesting any type of animal, meat is considered an important part of a humans diet. Even with that, I still think non-human animals and humans matter equally, it’s just due to the food chain, some non-humananimals are needed for our survival just like some non-human animals are needed for another non-human animals survival.

Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less (selfishness vs. altruism)?

I believe my life is worth the same as the lives of others. I’m the type of person to always put peoples needs before mine..but to an extent. I wouldn’t put somebodies needs way above mine to the point where I’d be hurting my well-being. I believe that everyone was put on this earth to help someone or something in some way. Some people find their purpose and some people unfortunately don’t but I still believe everyones worth is equal to one another’s. I guess the word ‘worth’ could represent a number of things but when I think worth I think importance. There’s never been a time in my life where I was in a position where I’ve personally felt my worth was more than somebody else’s. I think when it comes to worth, us a humans tend to let other individuals try to determine our worth. We let other individuals make us feel less worthy or in some cases, more worthy than another individual.